Goodbye 2009 - Welcome 2010 !!

We'll the year of 2009 is coming to a close. Hard to believe that 1 year ago today I was having sushi in Dubai with my son, my brother, and his (now) fiance (see photo in the previous post)! This year will be a little more reserved, going out to dinner and then staying home and getting up early for the parade. I think next year we'll stay out the night, that'll be an adventure!

Here's to a pretty good 2009, I'm lucky I don't have many complaints.

And here is to a fabulous 2010!

Wishing all the best life can offer - Kelly

We are now +1

Vivi - welcome to the family!!

Day 24 - Get 'er ready!

Since we'll be doing Thanksgiving 6 driving hours away from the house, and the closest market will be a 45 min one-way drive away...I've got to bring EVERYTHING with me. No last minute store runs for us this year.

Not shown in the picture that I'll be bringing with us too: 2 17lb turkeys, celery, onions, eggs, 5lbs (yeeeessssssssssssss) of butter, fruit, all the baking staples (flour, sugar, brown sugar, vanilla extract, almond flavoring, etc), and of course the Kitchen Aid mixer with all the attachments.

My big splurge this year was that I bought a whip cream maker. It comes with a canister of pressurized air and you hook it up to a contain filled with whipping cream, vanilla (choose a flavor) and nutmeg and whoosh! whipped cream in 5 seconds. SWEET!

Also - rumor has it that someone I just realized I had knew in high school, who also happens to be the chef at Williams-Somona where I was taking those classes....maybe stopping by on Thanksgiving as she'll be about 45 minutes away...oh I guess I could call on her for a shopping run!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone :)

Day 22 - Bruises

I give blood as regularly as possible. I've got something special that preemie-cancer babies need. So any blood that I give goes straight to them for them. It makes me feel particularly great! Yes great! Last year the Red Cross forwarded an email to me from a very thankful family who described how their child was sick and was saved due to the blood she received. The letter was addressed to the Red Cross with a request to pass it along to the donor. They did and I completely lost it sitting at my desk. Not only did it make my day; but it got me on the bandwagon of recruiting others to donate too.

Now for the topic of this post. This past week I had an appointment with the Red Cross. They conveniently come to work and spend 1 1/2 days there getting tons of blood from us. It had been a slow donation time due to people generally not feeling well, and the Red Cross will advise you NOT to give blood unless you are feeling 100%. I was feeling fine - so I decided to go ahead and donate.

Then it all started to go downhill...making the story short, after they stuck the needle in I completely stopped bleeding. A slight trickle would come out, that was all. Anyone family with the next procedure will know what I am talking about - once you stop bleeding a simple way to restart the bleeding is to move the needle around within the vein until it starts back up. Typically this is not pain-free and truly my only deterrent to giving blood. this time it did not hurt. Wow this is great I said to myself, seemingly unaware that this odd fact probably meant that something else was going on.

It appears that the nurse went in one side of my vein and right out the other. I've got bruises where the needle went in, and then all the way on the other side of my arm. What the hell! Hopefully the next donation won't be as painful or as colorful.

Day 21 - Everybody Thanksgiving

51 people - when did the family get soooo big!

This celebration is a time when we ALL get together regardless if we are together anymore. Divorce and remarriage are so common place these days and to get rid of the multitude of dinners; the miles of driving; the hours of duplication; my family has instantiated 'The Everyone Thanksgiving" probably a decade ago. We all get to see each other at least for one night. It is wonderful for the children to see that even though there are reasons why adults have decided not to remain together, that it doesn't mean that we can't all be around each other and enjoy the company for a few hours.

It starts at 5PM, I know that we've got 2 turkeys and a big roast already in the oven. I'm helping out with h'orderves. I'll be bringing spinach dip/bread; sliced apples and carmel dip; chilli and cream cheese with chips; Mom is bringing a veggie tray and dip; and cheese and crackers; Brother Bill is bringing his famous deviled eggs.

Day 20 - Coffee and more coffee

The first day of vacation started off like any other work/school weekday. Up at 6AM, get myself ready for the day, then off for coffee. Went to local Starbucks and what a madhouse! Today is the first LCHS CIF playoff game in years, and all the local teenagers were out starting a long day with a shot of caffeine. I got my usual, got the kid to school on time and came home to relax.

My friend Bev had breast reconstructive surgery this past week, and I returned to Starbucks (got a lot of weren't you here earlier looks!) to get her a coffee, double tall skinny vanilla latte, a drove to her house. We sat in her front yard on the purple bench in the morning sun drinking coffee. What a great way to start the day.

Day 18 - Economy is hitting the .gov - finally

So, it has been a tough week at my work which ends in a .gov . We have been very very lucky in the fact that we have yet to feel the effects of the economy at work. Yes we had zero raises, yes we had a raise in taxes and health insurance costs. BUT we've been exempt from layoffs, from salary decreases, etc. The recession has finally found its way in through the gates and we are looking at layoffs. Sadly, I am faced with doing the laying off - which honestly is better than the opposite but is sucks to do this. It also doesn't look that it will be getting better anytime soon.

Hope we all make it thru the holidays this year.

PS - I've missed Days 16 & 17. Sadly I don't know why or have a decent explanation :(

Day 15 - I love to cook

I guess the proper term would be baking.

I especially love making desserts; but I am always looking forward to this time of the year. Our family has many traditions, we have 2 Thanksgiving meals and come Christmas used to have 3 large meals, now it is down to just 2!

Around town/work/some family/friends...I'll hear people himming-and-hawing about the BIG Turkey dinner! How difficult it is, and how they aren't looking forward to cooking it all. It really isn't all that hard - it comes down the planning the dishes/times the day before. That way, the day of the cooking is relaxing and catching up with family and friends take priority of the rush in the kitchen.

This year we'll be celebrating our 2nd Thanksgiving meal in June Lake, CA. What a great place! Usually we are in Hermosa Beach, CA - another great place! I'll be doing the Turkey, gravy, and stuffing and bringing lots of other great goodies just for snaking over the 2-3 days that we'll be there. One trick I learned recently is to make corn bread in the crock pot. Put it on low and walk away - wha-la!

Off to bed, got a long week ahead...

Day 14 - Madeline's

Last night I had dinner and drinks at Madeline's in Pasadena, CA. Everyone should go and enjoy the Wine Bar. Here's a photo of the fabulous pear and apple tart dessert that I had. Yummy doesn't give it justice.

Day 13 - Today is my birthday

Day 12 - $75,000 mistake :(

Oops.

Nothing like making a $75,000 mistake at work. Thankfully it is works $$ not mine - but OMG! I'm gonna pay for this one.

Day 11 - Big Bertha

Just for fun, Nick and 4 of his friends went to the local Mexican food joint Los Gringos Locos, and 3 of them attempted to eat "Big Bertha" in one sitting. If you are able to consume this 3 pound burrito full of pork, chicken, beef, rice, beans, cheese, lettuce, onion, and a little tomato you get to wear a cocky sombrero, and get your photo taken and put on the 'wall of shame' for all to look at. Needless to say, it was not a problem for my boy or his friend Randy. They both got their photo taken, whereas their friend Daniel struggled and just couldn't do it. This photo is from Nick's iPhone not the one on the wall. If I get in there soon, I'll post a copy of it.

They'll never forget the date - Nov 10, 2009 or 11-10-09.

Day 9 - Nick's birthday

I missed blogging yesterday !!!! Urgh. My excuse being that we went to dinner at this new place in town to celebrate Nick's 16th birthday. It was great! Anyone familiar with the Shogun style show/dining entertainment event should be ecstatic that Sakura has opened its 20th restaurant in town. What fun!

The best part was when they came out to sing to both of us. Luckily we did not have to wear a lucky "Cat Hat", instead we got to "bang a gong" while making a birthday wish.

The worst is that I am sitting here dealing with too much salt

Here's a shot from our dinner!

Day 8 - William Somona classes

The local William Sonoma has classes during the holiday season for FREE! Yipee!!

You have a choice of either Sunday mornings or Monday evenings. Honestly, I haven't learned much (I already knew all the turkey tips they handed out) but it is nice to hear a real chef talk technique and listen to some of the complete novices who have decided to step into the kitchen!

Plus the store is in the Pasadena Commons which has some character, not just the standard concrete and traffic found all around here - and it is across from Green Street East and their yummy zuchinni bread loafs for sale (which are getting smaller and smaller as the years go by). Funny thing is as I am at their website I notice that the bread and the Dianne Salad (the staples) aren't even shown on the scroll! More detective work revealed them in the shop and ship section.

Day 7 - Burke Williams in my future

I just made an appointment for myself at Burke Williams Spa. Got a gift certificate so I'm not spending my hard earned money on this place.

Happy Birthday to me!

Day 6 - Nick is turning 16

My son is turning 16 on Monday. He is hosting 14 sixteen/seventeen year olds in our house for 10 hours to celebrate. Magic cards; Dungeons and Dragons; and Xbox - its a boys life

Subway sandwiches; chips; cookies; Big Mama's Pizza later; and cake! If you haven't ever heard of Big Mama's Pizza - they aint kiddin! I'll get a real photo and post it later but the pizza is 36" or 72" in diameter. Just incredible!

Day 5 - JV Football night

It was a great game, unfortunately LCHS lost by 2 2point conversions. Sadly they missed both of their attempts and Monrovia scored every time. #76 in beating himself up on his performance; but the triple triple, fries, and Neopolitan shake from In-N-Out made it a little better. I had myself a protein style cheeseburger but only after I picked him up after the game at the high school.

Best line of day - "Are you going to eat in your car tonight?" Really?!?

Day 4 - Fork Art

In today's Pasadena Star News (and all over the local news tonight) is a 'fork' at probably the most famous fork in the road in Pasadena. You can read the story here: http://www.pasadenastarnews.com/ci_13705662?source=rss

I like that they figured out who did it, and that they have gotten away with it - so far!

I hope the city keeps it!

Day 3 - Time Change

Here in Los Angeles, we change the clock 2 times a year to more align our 'human' lives with the life of the universe. I.e. as the earth goes around the sun on its tilted axis the sun appears to rise higher (or lower) in the sky and sets (rises) later (or earlier) day to day. It is easy to figure out which way to set the clock to an old saying..."Spring forward and Fall back".

So needless to say, this past Saturday night at 2AM miraculously changed to 1AM to correspond to the 'Fall back' part of the saying. I believe that March 11th will be the 'Spring forward' next year when 2AM will miraculously change to 3AM.

The time change used to be on a 6 month interval; but GB#42 changed that a few years back and now it is on a 5 month interval. Something to do with Economic growth and good for the country...whatever!

Okay so to get to the post topic...I get out of work ~5:30PM and last week the sun was just above the Western mountains between Glendale and Burbank; and now it is set behind the mountains and the sky is almost dark! Come December 21st or 22nd the sun will be set and it will be dark by 4:45PM. I do not like this time of year, it is too dark for me - but I do like the sky in November in the middle of the day. The sky is just sooo blue and the clouds are thin and wispy.

These are also the last days of 80F weather, come the end of the month we'll be stuck in the high 60F-70F range and heading for winter. Can't complain much about Southern California winters but I'll be counting the days 'till Spring.

Day 2 - Home with sick kid

Looks like Nick has the flu...coughing, runny nose and sore throat. Funny enough no fever (yet). He got the regular flu shot, so is this the H1N1 virus - who knows. I think tomorrow will be the turning day for him, either good and he'll get to play football on Thursday or not.

You can track the H1N1 virus on the CDC website here: http://cdc.gov/h1n1flu/update.htm

Blogging Challenge - Daily Blogging in November

Friends of mine who are pretty active bloggers have accepted a challenge to blog at least once a day everyday in November. today is November 1st - so does this blog count?

I'll talk about Halloween at my work. It is always the kick-off for the "United Way", a charity that reaches far and wide. This year the 501st Legion showed up to get the crowd going (http://www.501stlegion.org/members/garrisonroster.php?garrisonId=19). BTW, this is the day were we have a costume fashion show so these folks fit right in.

I also found this blog of one of the guys who was there: http://vfranco.blogspot.com/2009/10/jpl-visit.html

Until tomorrow! - Kelly

Visiting the Aussies I met in Egypt in Vegas

On Tuesday, I decided to 'pay it forward' and drove 3.5 hours from Los Angeles to Las Vegas to meet up for 6 hours with some new found friends from Australia. I met Maria (and now her husband Curl) during our trip to Egypt back in January. It was great to see them again, and I am looking forward to seeing them when we travel to Australia one day... I'll update photos once I download them.

We actually covered 4 continents on this trip...Australia, United States, Egypt, and Europe - we took a ride up the Eiffel Tower at Paris Paris!

Fires over the past week.

Los Angeles County, specifically in La Canada, CA where I live had quite the week with fires! check out these fabulous websites with timelapsed videos/photos:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=TIm9Th6yq7U
www.youtube.com/watch?v=O8xB1c0cx58
http://vimeo.com/dffinnerty/videos
http://danfinnerty.smugmug.com/Forest-Fires/Station-Fire/DC10-Over-JPL/9455373_9stZW#634275106_6BBZ5
I've also got a few on my facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/nicksmomkelly?ref=profile

I was never in real danger from the fire - thankfully because the "Santa Ana" winds did not appear. If there was wind, it would have been a firestorm and I could have lost everything!

Hopefully it'll be a much quieter week!

Labor Day Weekend

It's that time of year again...off to the beach house for "Fiesta de la Hermosa" http://www.fiestahermosa.com/ . Skype will be on, please call.

1 month later....

So I've been gone for 1 month; but a lot has happened to us!

School ended
Summer School started
Weight lifting for core body strength started
Summer Football practice started.
Work got crazy busy...

Since I am the only mode of transportation, I've been getting to work before 7AM and picking him up at 5:45PM. I've been spending a lot of time at work!!!

To top it all off...a random email from an old friend contained information regarding a house for rent in my town that is 1/2 the rent I currently pay and is bigger!! Needless to say I jumped on it and we're moving Friday. I've been packing for 4 days: stuff inside my house, the left over condo stuff from Mom, and Bill's storage (not complaining Bill!) stuff. In this horrid economy of the US these days, I gave myself a $18K/year after tax raise! Yippee!!!

Off to pack more - I'll be better about updating as I should have more time on my hands soon.
Kelly

Yo Brazil!

Brazil has completely taken over UAE in number of visits.

The competition is ON!!

PS - A colleague is getting married in Cali, Columbia on Dec 31st. I was thinking of going - who want to come too?? Hotel room will be paid for, please visit me!!!

Mom's Retirement

Okay, I've been slacking; but I have had a lot going on. Quick summary of the last month:

Sick

Football practice

Girls Weekend at the beach house

Football practice

Sick

Memorial Day weekend at the beach house - hey Aunt Suz!!!

Football practice

Sick.

Football practice.

Not sure what is going on; but the body is failing right now. Pollen and weather are a factor.

But to the subject of this blog....my Mother has retired. It is official - she is finally out of the abusive environment of the Catholic Church. You would think otherwise; but the last 2 Churchs she has worked at have completely taken advantage of her and I wish her peace in her retirement. Photos of the mass that is in her honor tomorrow will be posted soon.

Looking forward to my garage being cleaned out. Mom has some work to do, thank goodness she now has the time :)!

Freeway Beauty - destination unknown

I had to hit the brakes on the freeway and get my camera out ASAP to catch this classic. Hope to see it in a movie soon!

Grilled Cheese Invitational

Yesterday was a classic SoCal day. Temps nice in the low 70s, slight breeze from the Ocean keeping standing in the sun bearable. So my sister, her husband, and my niece and I decided to head down to the Grilled Cheese Inviational http://grilledcheeseinvitational.com/ near China Town. We took the Metro (yeah Bill!) to and from, which we were very happy to do as the parking near this park was non-existent. Turns out SisKatie had a friend who competed with their jalapeno & bacon poppers between bread sandwich - I don't know how they fared out as soooo many people showed up it took another lady Nat 1.5 hours just to get in, let alone get to the cometition to cheer on their friend. The above photo is from the Metro station looking North back towards Pasadena and you can see the line if you look really close! The other photo is at the fence of the GSI looking back towards the Metro station...yikes!

Since it was such a long line and we were very hungry...we went to Phillipe's instead. A short half mile walk back past the metro station, only to be met with another 45 minute line filled with other disgruntled GSI patrons! Regardless - nothing beats a great double-dip beef sandwich with hot mustard, coleslaw, and pie!

Cheers!

What happened to Spring?

For those who are not familiar with SoCal weather...we tend to go from 60F to 90F bypassing Spring and landing squarely into Summer. Today is 90F at the house.

The landlord decided to start a yardwork project - removing the nightmare overgrowth of the backyard and replacing it with grass and flowers. Problem is the folks who they hired to start the job got 2 days into it and I haven't seen them since.

I did capture this cute squirrel, aka LCF wildlife this morning and he did not like that I was standing 20 feet from him.

Anyway until later - Kelly

1st Journey Towards College

We headed out to Clairmont McKenna colleges today to check out Pitzer (http://www.pitzer.edu/), a liberal arts college that also is a 'small' college. In May we'll be heading down to UCLA which is a 'large' college. Nick had a surprisingly good time. He felt a connection to Harvey Mudd (http://www.hmc.edu/), not Pitzer. We even looked for a sweatshirt at the bookstore (https://www.bkstr.com/NavigationSearchDisplay/10001-4294963310-15303-1?demoKey=d&navActionType=addNewRefinement) but they did not a hoodie in dark grey. The only dark grey sweatshirt was from Scripps, the female college so that was out of the question.

Everyone wants to talk to me...

On Monday I had many doctor appointments which brought me to my old stomping grounds of Arcadia. So my day was mostly full of strangers who just started talking with me. I'm the talk-a-tive type so I talked back. Waiting for my mamogram (yes I have to have these nightmare exams!) I met an 84yr old man who looked 50 and I said "Wow you look great for 84!". He responded "The problem with being 84 is that you get 'Wow you look great for 84' more than you want . Then....

I decided to have lunch at Claro's the local 100% Italian food shop/bakery. I sat outside at the table with the lady in the shoot. Turns out she is an artist and had lots to say about writing, painting and the beautiful day. I took a shot when I was leaving and when she wasn't looking. I am also enjoying the throw-back to the 70's/80's with the station wagon and old CA plates of Blue/Gold. Now they are White/Blue with red California on them.
..

Off to my usual doc to get the results of my anual blood screening (Trigycerides = 46, HDL = 71, LDL - 49, Cholesterol = 129) I got into a debate on health with some yahoo I didn't appreciate in waiting room. Luckily I was called in early.

This shot is from in front of my doctor's office...view I grew up with! Looking up 2nd street infront of 1st Ave School.

On my way to drop of the athletic release form for Football and Wrestling at my son's doctor...I discovered this fabulous view. East on Del Mar at Raymond looking NE. Filmore stop is just to my right.

This one is for Bill. Enjoy!

Cleaning the BBQ

Lessons Learned - Don't start to clean the BBQ and then forget about it.

You'll get a neighbor who is sad not to be able to use the fire extinguisher...

Everyone is okay, including the BBQ.

Major 18 Wheeler accident in LCF - again!!

http://abclocal.go.com/kabc/story?section=news/local/los_angeles&id=6740885 or http://www.ktla.com/landing_topstories/?Deadly-Crash-Runaway-Big-Rig-Slams-into-=1&blockID=255846&feedID=1198

2 dead with a run away big rig plows into a local owned coffee/bookstore. I normally drive this exact route at the exact time of the accident, but I had a headache and decided to go home early today.

Oh - Bill....HR called, he passed the psyc tests and will be back at work on Thursday March 2nd.

iPhone post -computer has virus, I'm up sh#t creek, work computer is down and out. iPhone doesn't recognize blog post only can type in titles

You found me

Hi Bill =)

International Space Station

Nearing the completion of International Space Station, the crew of the Shuttle Discovery took a very cool photo upon their departure. The Earth is 'above' the ISS and a thin sliver of the atmostphere is coming into view.

Discovery lands on Saturday March 28th.

Football night

So the boy wants to play football next year. So I'm off to the highschool to learn what we need to do. I've had a very busy week plus and have neglected this blog since then. I'll be back tomorrow with more to say.

6 Signs of the Times

1 year ago, you couldn't find a sign in our town, now they are on every corner. Sadly, a dime a dozen these days. Some of these are from people I know who are now unemployed and have to sell their homes at rock bottom as they now can not afford them.

2 months later...

New President, sick ecomony, work going down the tubes...I've negleted the blog.

I'm posting new photo's everyday to keep myself active.

Here is today's: Marines at RoseBowl on Feb 28th.

1/20/09 - Big day

WOW, I have been completely lax on my blog.

Few excuses...big family with lots and lots of family holiday gatherings in December; and Travel to Dubai and Egypt. Pictures are on my Facebook Kelly Moran in Los Angeles.

2009, New Year, New President, New emphasis for me to:
get in better shape;
keep up blogging;
be a better Mom; and
laugh every day!